Weymouth theater celebrates 75 years in business

The Cameo Theater in Weymouth is celebrating 75 years in business this year. On Thursday, it offered a free showing of “The Wizard of Oz,” which also turns 75 this year.

Christian Schiavone The Patriot Ledger @CSchiavo_Ledger

WEYMOUTH - The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as the first notes of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” played. The projectionist’s window above the theater seats lit up and the packed house of children and parents went silent except for the soft rustle of popcorn bags.

It was a scene that could have played out a lifetime ago. But Thursday’s throwback showing of “The Wizard of Oz” at the Cameo Theater in Columbian Square marked the independent neighborhood theater’s 75th year in business.

The film also turns 75 this year.

The Cameo’s recent birthday is especially notable in an era where small, independent theaters have been increasingly crowded out by multiplexes with a dozen or more screens and shows running from morning until well into the night.

“It’s pretty rare to see a downtown theater like that survive, especially these days,” said Bret Hardy of Hanover, who co-owns the Cameo with his wife, Michelle. “It’s nice to have an alternative, low-key theater where the people are friendly and get to know the regulars.”

The Hardys, who also own small theaters in Scituate and East Bridgewater, bought the Cameo in 2011. They both work day jobs, Bret as a marketing director for an engineering and manufacturing firm in East Bridgewater and Michelle as a copywriter. Business can be slow at times and they keep the theater going more as a hobby and out of dedication to preserving independent theaters than as an income source.

“It stems from our love of movies and the theater itself,” Bret Hardy said. “It’s just a nice old place.”

The theater has held onto much of its charm from the past. There’s a brick fireplace in the lobby, and the old-school marquee out front is flanked by posters on either side of the doors advertising the films playing on each of the theater’s two screens. There originally was only one screen, but the previous owners divided it into two in the mid-1980s.

Upstairs in the projection room, the old hulking reel-to-reel projectors are gone, replaced by digital ones. But the metal fire doors and shutters from the days of highly combustible movie film are still there, and the original projection license from 75 years ago hangs on a wall.

Thursday’s free celebration was held in conjunction with another Columbian Square landmark, the recently re-opened Fogg Library across the street. Library volunteers helped check in parents and kids who registered for the film.

Families started lining up a half-hour before the 10 a.m. start time. Among the crowd were four Dorothys, a young girl on crutches with a bandaged foot and one ruby slipper, and a Tin Man.

Mayor Susan Kay introduced the movie, proclaiming herself the “mayor of munchkin city,” and said the film is her all-time favorite.

After the movie, the crowd moved across the street to the lawn of the Fogg Library, where movie-goers munched on pizza and posed for photos with actors dressed up as the Cowardly Lion and the Wicked Witch of the West.

The event was made possible by a donation from Weymouth resident Julie Hackett in honor of her parents, Jack and Pat Hackett.

East Weymouth resident Pat O’Leary said she comes to the theater about once a month and prefers it to the bigger theaters.

“It’s a beautiful old theater,” she said. “It’s the character. I like the atmosphere of an old theater and the charm of the old seats. You meet your neighbors. It’s a social thing.”

Library Director Robert MacLean grew up going to the Cameo and saw his first movie there, “The Black Stallion,” in 1979. Even then, the Cameo stood out from other theaters.

“This wasn’t like any other movie theater. It’s not in a mall, it’s not in a commercial park,” he said. “This type of theater is really special. It creates memories.”

Reach Christian Schiavone at cschiavone@ledger.com or follow him on Twitter @CSchiavo_Ledger.